Footballncaa's Blog

Considering the fallout, the NCAA move to speed up college football must be the brainchild of defensive coaches. With the new rules reducing the time the ball is in play by five minutes or so, teams will run fewer plays, maybe 10 or so per game. Can less total offense be far behind? Last year, Arkansas averaged 5.2 yards per play. If the Razorbacks had run 10 fewer plays per game, it would follow that their offense would decline by 52 yards per game. Georgia was the best in the Southeastern Conference in 2005, averaging 6.2 yards per play, and Auburn was next at 6.0. Shortening the game could affect the passing yardage even more than the rushing figures. For instance, a year ago, Georgia and LSU averaged more than 8 yards per pass play and four other league teams topped 7 yards per try. Arkansas was next to last in the SEC, averaging 5.6 yards per pass attempt. The trickle down also could be reflected in individual stats. Arkansas running back Darren McFadden averaged 6.3 yards per rush last year on his way to a freshman record 1,113 yards. If he had one less carry per game, his average would have been 95 yards per game instead of 101.2. Knowing that, will the Arkansas staff go out of its way to make certain that McFadden gets a specific number of carries per game? If so, does somebody else get squeezed? Teams could maintain their plays per game if only there was a way to circumvent those time-wasting 65 or 70 offensive meetings a few yards from the line of the scrimmage. You know the ones where the player with a low number on his jersey tells his teammates what play has been called by coaches on the sideline. Such innovation would need a snappy name - the no-meeting offense or huddle-be-gone. Of course, there is such a thing and it's available to the Razorbacks. "The Hurry-Up, No-Huddle: An Offensive Philosophy," is the name of a book by Gus Malzahn, who is preparing for his first season as Arkansas' offensive coordinator. On page two, he lists game-related goals and No. 1 on that list is speeding up the game. "You can accomplish this goal by snapping the football within five seconds after the referee puts the ball into play," he wrote. "This step can be a challenge if you use a lot of motion in our offense, but it should only cost you a couple of extra seconds." That snappy snap fits nicely with the NCAA decision to start the clock when the ball is ready for play on a change of possession. With college games routinely approaching 3 1-2 hours, the NCAA Football Rules Committee looked at several proposals to shorten the game. The consensus was that other ideas were too drastic. In the book, Malzahn lists a dozen advantages of the hurry-up approach and No. 6 - subtitled, it gives you more offensive snaps - should be highlighted in yellow. "The number of offensive snaps is the most important stat with which you should be concerned," he wrote. There are exceptions - Arkansas led USC 78-67 in snaps last year and trailed in yardage 736-326. Malzahn said that prior to 1996, Shiloh Christian was a ball-control team that averaged about 41 snaps per game. "Once we implemented the hurry-up, no-huddle, we averaged over 60 plays a game, even though we often were running out the clock in the fourth quarter in most of our games," he said. During his first spring with the Razorbacks, Malzahn spent much of his time on the base offense already in place. Little time was devoted to the no-huddle, but he is quoted in Hooten's Arkansas Football as saying that the offense is a philosophy and does not take a long time to implement "as long as you have a good communication system and don't have a lot of working in your offense." He has melded some of his passing schemes and some screen passes into what was in place and more of his shotgun stuff will be added. Everyone wants to know when the entire offense will be in place. Wisely, he refused to be pinned down about a timetable.

At this rate, Tennessee's football team might have its 2007 recruiting class complete before the 2006 season is over. The Vols picked up their ninth verbal commitment during the July 4th holiday when cornerback Art Evans of Lakeland, Fla., told UT coaches that he planned to sign in February. Verbal commitments are non-binding, but Tennessee is already halfway to the total of 18-20 prospects it expects to sign in February. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Evans also played receiver and returned kicks at Victory Christian Academy (formerly Evangel Christian School). The Vols project him as a cornerback. Evans also had offers from Ohio State, Duke, Georgia Tech, West Virginia and Indiana. Evans is fully qualified academically. Williams still waiting Gerald Williams' wait could last a little bit longer. The UT defensive end signee from Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., has improved his standardized test score enough that his transcript won't include any of the classes he took at the now closed University High, which was on the NCAA's list of banned correspondence schools. Williams, though, still has to get through the NCAA Clearinghouse, as well as UT's admissions process, making it unclear whether he will be allowed to enroll for the second session of summer school. The second session of summer school at UT begins next Monday, with most of the signees moving in this week. Williams was flagged by the NCAA Clearinghouse process last year and sent home after practicing with the Vols for a few days. He re-signed with UT this past February and has been working to raise his test score. Defensive back Stephaun Raines of Dalton, Ga., will also not report on Wednesday because of an issue with the Clearinghouse. Receiver Brent Vinson of Hampton, Va., is still waiting to see if he's an academic qualifier. He may have to go the prep school route.

Like the Tigers' Justin Verlander, Sparty needs your vote. Michigan State's mascot is one of six collegiate nominees up for induction into the Mascot Hall of Fame. There isn't an actual building for the Hall of Fame; the actual hall is in cyberspace at mascothalloffame.com. Sparty's competition is: Auburn's Aubie the Tiger, who might be a second cousin to the Detroit Tigers' Paws. Delaware's YouDee, a Fighting Blue Hen. Montana's Monte, a grizzly bear. Wisconsin's Bucky the Badger. Western Kentucky's Big Red, a furry, red ... uh, thingamajig.

In the two years since Todd Turner was named Washington's athletic director, he has already crafted a hefty legacy. He has made a bold hire in football coach Tyrone Willingham, ensured that Lorenzo Romar will man the men's basketball program for a long time and, maybe most important, restored credibility to a department previously reeling from scandal. But a project some close to the department have said might ultimately define his UW career — renovating Husky Stadium — remains stuck at the starting gate. The university has hired noted architectural firm HOK Sport of Kansas City, Mo., to develop a master plan for athletic facilities that includes schematics for a renovated Husky Stadium. That's about as far as Washington has gotten, however, with a task Turner never thought would be easy. And it's a task that has grown more complicated since Turner was introduced as UW's athletic director on a glorious June afternoon and said he found it "interesting" that there was a track around Husky Stadium. Those were words that warmed the hearts of fans who long have wanted to see their revered stadium, built in 1920, brought into the modern age. Many have been vocal about wanting to see the track removed to turn Husky Stadium into a more intimate venue to rival the likes of that found at Oregon. However, a losing football team and the desires of other public entities — specifically, plans to redo the 520 bridge and a separate project to build a Sound Transit station on Montlake Boulevard — have conspired to put the brakes on Husky Stadium. Initially, Washington hoped it could make public its plans for redoing the stadium this spring. But Turner said school officials began to more fully understand the impact of the 520 project and the Sound Transit station around the first of the year. "Once we saw the scope of that, it really caused us institutional heartburn to figure out how we are going to build our master plan around some of the things that are being contemplated to the west end of Husky Stadium and to the south," he said. "So we have slowed our planning to better understand what the region is planning to do." Sound Transit plans to build a station that stretches from the front entrance of Husky Stadium on Montlake all the way to the Montlake Cut. Construction is expected to start in 2009 and might not be completed until 2015. There are no set plans for what will happen with the 520 bridge, though officials recently said that project could also start in 2009 with possible completion in 2015. "It's a really complicated problem and it can't be addressed [independently]," Turner said. "You've got to look at how to make this work [for everyone involved], so that's kind of where we are." The Sound Transit and 520 projects, however, could mean that any substantial work on Husky Stadium wouldn't start until 2015 or later. That's assuming there's money in hand. At the moment, the school isn't actively raising dollars for a renovation of Husky Stadium. "A couple of things need to happen before we start doing that," Turner said. "Number one, we need to get a few wins under our belt. It's not the right time to be talking about asking people to contribute dollars. And second, we've got to determine what we can do and a time frame." Money raised from recent increases in ticket prices and mandatory donations has gone to help fund other football-related projects, notably a Legends Center that will soon be constructed on the east end of the Graves Annex at a cost of $5 million. That is expected to be completed before the 2007 season. Once the Huskies do start raising money, they may have to be more creative than originally hoped. Turner said research indicates the Huskies might not be able to fund as much of a possible renovation through suite sales as have other schools. Ohio State, for instance, raised 80 percent of the $194 million for its renovation through the sale of 81 hospitality suites and 2,500 club seats. But Turner said, "Our research indicates that that level of excitement for that type of suite boxes and amenity seating isn't that great," estimating the sale of 25 to 35 suites "is doable if we want to put them in." That might improve if the Huskies start winning. Willingham said he understood the minute he took the job the importance of reviving the team to renovating Husky Stadium. For now, he can't promise recruits they will ever play in a renovated Husky Stadium. But he said merely being able to talk about plans for improvements, as well as smaller projects that will be completed soon, such as the Legends Center, is a good first start. "Young people want to know that what they are doing is important," Willingham said. "If you are investing in your program, young people want to be a part of it."